5 mosquitoes test positive for West Nile in Lehigh County

Five mosquitoes in Lehigh County have tested positive for the West Nile virus this month, confirming the need for prevention measures, health officials said.

Two mosquitoes in the county were found to have the virus on Thursday alone, the state West Nile Control Program said. One was from Allentown, the other from Weisenberg Township.

Louise Bugbee, Lehigh County West Nile coordinator, said it was the first time ever the virus was detected in Weisenberg. But she said the overall number of cases this year does not seem to be rising.

"The numbers are normal," she said. "It's just that we found it earlier this year."

Yet another Allentown mosquito tested positive for the virus on Wednesday. On July 3, mosquitoes in Whitehall and North Whitehall townships also were found to have the virus.

The state tracks the spread of the virus because, in humans, it can cause encephalitis, a dangerous and sometimes fatal inflammation of the brain. The virus, which first appeared in Pennsylvania in 2000, usually is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes.

Bugbee advised that county residents fight the virus by keeping their yards free of the standing water where mosquitoes breed. Water has to drained from open garbage cans, bird baths, tarps and clogged gutters, she said.

"People really need to clean up their own junk," Bugbee said.

No Pennsylvania resident has tested positive for West Nile virus this year. The state had six cases last year, and 28 in 2010, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. None of the Pennsylvania cases was fatal.

In the last two years, the state's first human West Nile cases were reported in late August. Bugbee said it appears that in late summer the mosquitoes start biting people because the birds they normally feed from leave the region.

The mosquitoes, which get the virus from infected birds, then pass it on, she said.

No mosquitoes from Northampton County have tested positive for the virus this month. The state lists Lehigh County as a "moderate risk" zone for West Nile. Northampton County is a "remote risk" area.

Montgomery and Delaware counties are eastern Pennsylvania's only "above average risk" zones for the virus. Allegheny County is the state's only "high risk" area.

Five mosquitoes in lower Montgomery County have tested positive for the virus this month. In lower Bucks County, four mosquitoes have been found with West Nile.